The Zhangzhou dialects (), also rendered Changchew, Chiangchew or Changchow, are a collection of
Hokkien
The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...
dialects spoken in southern
Fujian province
Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...
(in southeast China), centered on the city of
Zhangzhou
Zhangzhou (), alternately romanized as Changchow, is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, China. The prefecture around the city proper comprises the southeast corner of the province, facing the Taiwan Strait and surrounding the prefec ...
. The Zhangzhou dialect proper is the source of some place names in English, including
Amoy
Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, ...
(from , now called
Xiamen
Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, ...
), and
Quemoy
Kinmen, alternatively known as Quemoy, is a group of islands governed as a county by the Republic of China (Taiwan), off the southeastern coast of mainland China. It lies roughly east of the city of Xiamen in Fujian, from which it is separate ...
(from , now called
Kinmen
Kinmen, alternatively known as Quemoy, is a group of islands governed as a county by the Republic of China (Taiwan), off the southeastern coast of mainland China. It lies roughly east of the city of Xiamen in Fujian, from which it is separate ...
).
Classification
The Zhangzhou dialects are classified as
Hokkien
The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...
, a group of
Southern Min
Southern Min (), Minnan (Mandarin pronunciation: ) or Banlam (), is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Sinitic languages that form a branch of Min Chinese spoken in Fujian (especially the Minnan region), most of Taiwan ( ...
varieties. In
Fujian
Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...
, the Zhangzhou dialects form the southern subgroup () of Southern Min. The dialect of urban Zhangzhou is one of the oldest dialects of Southern Min, and along with the urban
Quanzhou dialect
The Quanzhou dialects (), also rendered Chin-chew or Choanchew, are a collection of Hokkien dialects spoken in southern Fujian (in southeast China), in the area centered on the city of Quanzhou. Due to migration, various Quanzhou dialects are sp ...
, it forms the basis for all modern varieties. When compared with other varieties of Hokkien, it has an intelligibility of 89.0% with the
Amoy dialect
The Amoy dialect or Xiamen dialect (), also known as Amoynese, Amoy Hokkien, Xiamenese or Xiamen Hokkien, is a dialect of Hokkien spoken in the city of Xiamen (historically known as "Amoy") and its surrounding metropolitan area, in the southern ...
and 79.7% with the urban
Quanzhou dialect
The Quanzhou dialects (), also rendered Chin-chew or Choanchew, are a collection of Hokkien dialects spoken in southern Fujian (in southeast China), in the area centered on the city of Quanzhou. Due to migration, various Quanzhou dialects are sp ...
.
Phonology
This section is mostly based on the variety spoken in the urban area of Zhangzhou.
Initials
There are 15 phonemic initials:
When the rime is nasalized, the three voiced phonemes , and are realized as the nasals , and , respectively.
The place of articulation of the alveolar phonemes , , and is slightly further back, as if between that of and ; palatalization of these phonemes is especially obvious before rimes that begin with , e.g. .
Rimes
There are 85 rimes:
The vowel is the
open central unrounded vowel
The open central unrounded vowel, or low central unrounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in many spoken languages. While the International Phonetic Alphabet officially has no dedicated letter for this sound between front and back , it ...
in most rimes, including , , , , , , , , . In the rimes and , is realized as (i.e. as and ) or (i.e. as and ).
The rimes and are usually realized with a short between the vowel and the
velar consonant
Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth (known also as the velum).
Since the velar region of the roof of the mouth is relatively extensive an ...
. In many areas outside of the urban area of Zhangzhou, including
Pinghe
Pinghe County () is a county of the prefecture-level city of Zhangzhou, in southern Fujian province, PRC, bordering Guangdong province to the west.
Administrative Division
The administrative centre or seat of Pinghe County is Xiaoxi ().
Towns ...
,
Changtai,
Yunxiao,
Zhao'an
Zhao'an () is a county in the municipal region of Zhangzhou, southernmost Fujian province, People's Republic of China.
History Qing dynasty to the Republic of China
In May 1907, county officials arrested, on suspicion of piracy, the local lea ...
and
Dongshan, and are pronounced as and instead.
The codas , and are unreleased, i.e. , and , respectively.
Tones
There are seven tones:
Most people in the urban area do not pronounce the dark level tone as high-level, but slightly mid-rising. While most sources still records this tone as 44, its tone value has also been recorded as 24, 45, 34 or 35 to reflect its rising nature.
Tone sandhi
The Zhangzhou dialect has nine tone sandhi rules: only the last syllable of nouns and clause endings remain unchanged by tone sandhi. The two-syllable tone
sandhi
Sandhi ( sa, सन्धि ' , "joining") is a cover term for a wide variety of sound changes that occur at morpheme or word boundaries. Examples include fusion of sounds across word boundaries and the alteration of one sound depending on near ...
rules are shown in the table below:
Notes
References
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{{Chinese language
Fujian
Hokkien-language dialects
Zhangzhou